Next on 4
4IP: Innovation for the Public
Last updated: 22 May 2008
Background to 4IP
The debate about how public service media needs to evolve onto new platforms has been rumbling for ages. We think it’s time to do something. Nurture new talent. Champion new voices and fresh perspectives. Give people who can reinvent public service media the tools and resources they need to do it.
That’s why we announced 4IP - a new investment fund for innovation - as part of our Next on 4 commitments. Over the next couple of years we will be investing up to £50M in content and services which will help Channel 4 deliver its public purposes on new platforms, in new ways, for an audience that has new expectations. You can read the detail of what we announced in Next on 4 in the Executive Summary, the Full Report or the press release.
We will be launching 4IP publicly later in the summer, when we will give details of how you can submit your ideas. In the meantime we’re busy setting things up and will keep this site regularly updated.
What we’re doing right now
Partnership is in the DNA of Channel 4 and 4IP is no exception. We’re busy galvanising activity across the public and private sectors and building a coalition of funding partners including Screen West Midlands, Scottish Enterprise, Yorkshire Forward, Screen Yorkshire, NESTA and Arts Council England. We are currently having additional conversations with other potential investors, as well as with other public organisations and technology and media corporations. We are delighted that so many people are both interested in what we’re doing and keen to participate. If you’d like to discuss how your organisation can get involved, drop us a line to 4IPpartnerships@channel4.com.
We are also starting to seek out the individuals and organisations who need our backing for their ideas, and to this end are actively engaged in speaking to relevant gatherings over the next few months. If you’d like us to come and talk with you, simply send an email to 4IPtalent@channel4.com
Finally, we’re building the team which will run 4IP. You can find out which roles we’re currently hiring for and how to apply for them by clicking here.
LATEST: 4IP-sponsored Event
Free tickets for Mashed: 4IP is literally oiling the wheels and stoking the boilers of Mashed — this year’s Hack Day — by sponsoring the drink and food. There’s a corker of a weekend planned — arrive on the Saturday (21st June) morning and listen to real people from the development world showing you how to build things and how to use the systems that will be available to you throughout the weekend — including a full broadcast TV station with the ability to build and hack your own interactive applications. As the talks draw to a close, the 24 hour hack begins — there’s plenty of food (no, it's not all pizza this year - think pie and mash), distractions for when you need them and if all goes to plan a special event at midnight.
Sunday (22nd June) trundles on to the live presentations at 2pm, hosted by a very very special guest star... If you thought last year was a great time, this year we'll blow your socks off. It’s all about you — if you want something, let us know and we’ll organise it.
There are 100 free tickets through 4IP - you just need to sign up at mashed08.eventbrite.com - be quick though if you want a freebie (and be aware that last year the first hundred tickets went in a little over two hours, so you need to be swift in any case to guarantee your spot).
